Florida Expanding ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law

Washington DC - -(Ammoland.com)- Florida state legislators are a step closer to expanding their Stand Your Ground law to include the ability to legally fire a warning shot.

The expansion being considered “would grant the same protections already in place under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to people who only threaten to use force.”

According to Fox News, a state Senate committee “voted in favor of the bill (SB 488) on [January 8] and a house committee has… voted in favor of similar legislation (HB 89),” as well.

If the expansion takes place, law-abiding citizens who fire a warning shot “would be immune from Florida’s ’10-20-Life’ law, which requires anyone who shows a gun while committing certain felonies…be sentenced to 10 years in prison.” If someone is wounded, the “10-20-Life” law requires a sentence of 25 years to life.

The push to expand the “Stand Your Ground” law is partially due to the plight of Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after firing a warning shot during an argument with her estranged husband.

Her sentence was “thrown out by an appeals court,” and a new trial scheduled for this year.

In pressing for the expansion to include warning shots, state Senator Greg Evers (R-Baker) said the legislature is not going to put up with law-abiding Floridians being punished if they “brandish weapons, [and] even fire warning shots, to ward off would-be assailants.”

About:
AWR Hawkins writes for all the BIG sites, for Pajamas Media, for RedCounty.com, for Townhall.com and now AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.

His southern drawl is frequently heard discussing his take on current events on radio shows like America’s Morning News, the G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Ken Pittman Show, and the NRA’s Cam & Company, among others. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal (summer 2010), and he holds a PhD in military history from Texas Tech University.

If you have questions or comments, email him at awr@awrhawkins.com. You can find him on facebook at www.facebook.com/awr.hawkins.

Firing a warning shot is just dumb. First of all, if you’re going to fire, fire to hit the threat, not something else. Secondly, it’s not safe and I’m not talking not safe for the perp, it’s not safe for anyone in the vicinity. Inadvertent penetration of homes, cars and other structures is going to kill someone. Firing up in the air means a round is going up and will come down and often times it will hit and injure or kill someone. If you’re going to shoot someone, shoot the perp, not someone you didn’t know was even there and does not deserve to be shot.

The purpose of CCW is to defend yourself, not play policeman. If your life is threatened, shoot him/her. You will be in jail a long time for anything else. Zimmerman was cleared in Florida after court battle and a small fortune in lawyers fees. Be prepared to be arrested for using your weapon in JUSTIFIABLE circumstances. If you have to shoot, shoot to kill, or leave the gun at home.

Why would/should I fire a warning shot to warn someone who is trying to kill me .
If I’m in fear of my life ! The criminal knows why, they are breaking in and it’s not to bring me flowers .
Police stopped saying Stop or I’ll shoot years ago .